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Wyoming Area 90 Mule Deer

I'm back from my area 90 mule deer hunt. Thought I'd give a report for those considering this tag. The drought really had the deer concentrated on water. The hard part was finding the water. Plenty of bucks were spotted during scouting but nothing big. The first day I saw 44 deer, 26 does, 18 bucks. Most of the bucks were average, what you'd expect on a general hunt. Most of the bucks had only one thing going for them. Saw a couple of 26 inch wide bucks, but they weren't tall and had short points. Saw a tall buck, but he only had about a 14 inch spread. One buck was tall and wide but crab clawed on all forks. Finally spotted this guy and I wound up making a 430 yard shot when he finally rose from his bed. He was too nice to pass up and was the largest buck out of the 18 and the larger than anything found during scouting so I couldn't pass the opportunity. Overall it was a very enjoyable hunt...some monsters get taken out there every year but for the average guy I'd say area 90 is good for a solid 145-160 class deer. Good fun hunt for the chance at a bigger deer, but be prepared to take something in that class if you can't find the big one.

I used a custom 30 Hart with 180 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. A 30 Hart was a popular 1000 yard benchrest round before all the big-cased magnums showed up. Its based on a 300 Weatherby case with a 40 degree shoulder. Powder capacity is right in the middle between a 300 Weatherby and a 300 RUM....thanks guys...my nicest mule deer to date.

Yes, I just fireform 300 Weatherby in it. After that, with the 40 degree Ackley shoulder, I don't have any case stretch. My favorite load in it is 200 grain Nosler Accubonds at 3170 fps. The catridge is incredibly accurate, first 3 shot group out of the gun during break-in went .192